Wallace declares victory in Bellevue City Council race

Bellevue City Council member Kevin Wallace declared victory today in his bid for a second term as challenger Steve Kasner’s prospects faded.

Wallace held a 201-vote lead over Kasner with 33,715 vote-by-mail ballots counted. Wallace had 50.23 percent of the vote to Kasner’s 49.54 — numbers that changed little from earlier counts.

Based on King County Elections ballot return statistics released Sunday night, today’s vote count left only 759 more ballots, many of them challenged because of unverified signatures or other problems.

Wallace said he had not heard from Kasner, for whom victory appeared to be “out of reach.”

“I’m excited to be re-elected and have the opportunity to serve the city for another four years,” Wallace said, “and I look forward to continuing our efforts at finding common ground-solutions for all the people of Bellevue.”

Kasner, a substitute teacher and chair of the East Bellevue Community Council, could not be reached for comment.

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Politics Northwest is the go-to blog for politics in our region. The blog explores national, state and local political news and issues. Reporters from Washington, D.C., to Seattle City Hall to the state capital in Olympia contribute. Editors are Richard Wagoner and Beth Kaiman.